Loudspeaker
by Alice Prongs
Summary: James Potter doesn't know if it's a good or a bad thing when he hears Lily Evans, his first love, being called on the loudspeaker five years after they've last seen each other.
"Lily Evans, please attend the Help Center." The woman's voice came out of the loudspeaker.

He froze in place. No freaking way. It couldn't be, could it? It couldn't be her. He must have heard it wrong. It would be too much of a coincidence for him to meet up with her all the way in the US when he hadn't seen her for the past five years that he spent back home. And holy crap, the Help Center was right beside where he was. What was he supposed to do? Wait for said Lily Evans to arrive and see if it was really her? Get out of there as fast as possible to not risk seeing her again? He didn't know if he could take it. He had had problems with seeing Lily Evans before, and even though it had been five years since he last saw her red hair and green eyes and perfect face, he wasn't sure that he wouldn't feel anything if he saw her again. She was his first love, his biggest love and…

And there she was. Just like he remembered, only with slightly more mature features. But still, same height, same long red hair, same intense green eyes that used to burn holes into his head, same thin nose, same freckles, same pale skin, same way of walking. Same Lily Evans. And judging from the amount of butterflies that were flying through his stomach, the way his hands were sweaty and his heartbeat had increased, same feelings.

She hadn't seen him yet, she had been talking to the lady at the Help Center counter for the past five minutes, a frown etched on her face. And it was probably a good thing that she hadn't looked around, because then she would have seen him standing there and staring at her like a stalker. But it was like he couldn't move, like he was glued to the floor. And all that because of _her_. Crap. Weren't five years enough to make him let her go? To his heart, it seemed like it had been only five minutes since the last time it had sped up at the sight of her.

He got alarmed as he saw that she was already thanking the woman on the counter, picking up her purse and turning… Towards him. Damn it. Damn it all. He turned around just as she glanced at where he was standing, and luckily he was able to do it without her noticing that he had been staring at her for quite a while. Forget it, James. Get out of here. It's been five years. She probably doesn't even remember…

"James? James Potter? Is that you?" Holy freaking _crap_. He swore that if he believed in God, he would have been swearing at Him with every bad name that he could remember right now. And being the Marauder that he was, those would have been a lot.

He turned to Lily Evans, who was standing a few meters away from him, an apprehensive expression on her face. As she saw that it was really him, the apprehension was gone, and in its place was Lily's smile. _The_ smile. The one that he had tried for years to have her direct to him. Oh, the irony. Now, that he wasn't even trying, she smiled at him. And hugged him, apparently, considering that was what she was doing right now. She had just come up to him and hugged him. And, what the hell, it felt amazing to hold her in his arms. _Stop. Five years James, it's been five years._ She pulled away a bit from the hug, looking up at him with those two shining emeralds that were her eyes and his breath caught in his throat. She smiled again and he couldn't help but smile back, because this was Lily Evans, and maybe it hadn't been so long.

"I can't believe it! What are you doing here in the US?" She was still smiling up at him, which was definitely an improvement from five years ago. He thought that the only times she smiled at him back then was when she gave him detention and she was feeling very satisfied with it.

"I'm on vacation, Sirius dragged me with him. What about you?"

"I moved here about an year after we graduated." So that was why he hadn't seen her for so long. "I got a scholarship at the MIT. Couldn't say no." He always knew she was a genius, this was just more proof.

"That's amazing! But you're still going to MIT?"

"Oh, no, I'm not. I graduated last year, but I got a good job and everything, so going back isn't really an option yet. Marlene wanted to kill me when I told her I would be staying for a longer time." He laughed at that. Marlene. It had been a while since he had last seen her. Not as long as Lily, but still quite a while. Maybe two years? It was incredible how he had managed to lose contact with almost all of his old classmates, except for the Marauders.

"And what about you? What are you doing?"

"I graduated from college as well, as unlikely as it may sound. I went to Oxford. Still don't know how they accepted me." She giggled at that, and he had no idea of what was going on. Since when did Lily Evans giggle? And especially at things he said?

"Come on, James, we all know you were one of those little geniuses hidden behind all the mischief and the laziness." Her eyes twinkled with a challenge. Did she just call him a genius? Well, wasn't that flattering?

"Hey! I gladly accept the mischief part, it was an honor, but laziness? I wasn't lazy!" He mocked hurt and tried to defend himself to her, but she knew he was just joking.

"Yes, you were. Sorry to tell you that, but I still remember you and Sirius stealing my homework five minutes before class started." Well, she had a point. But he wasn't going to let it down that easily.

"That's not called laziness, that's called strategy." He grinned at her and winked. He also swore to have seen a light pink flush appearing in her cheeks, then again, miracles were happening today, but certainly not that much, right?

"Sure." She laughed again. James still didn't know if he was dreaming or not. It wasn't possible that after five years, when he's in vacation in the US with Sirius, he would meet up with Lily Evans out of all people and _she_ would call _him_ and they would be having a normal conversation as if they were old friends meeting up after a long time. "Listen, James, I… I don't know if you'd have the time but I'd love to catch up with you. It's been five years after all."

"I'd love that too! Yeah, sure. So how about a cup of coffee? My treat." He smiled at her and she smiled back up at him. It was like 17 year old James Potter's dream was coming true. Lily Evans wanted to catch up with him.

"I think that's a wonderful idea."

"Great. So, I know this may completely ruin everything, but will you please explain to me how come you don't hate me anymore?" She looked back at him, frowning, but as soon as she saw the apprehension that was clear in his face, she giggled once again.

"It's been five years, you know? I don't hold that much of a grudge against people. And let's just say that over this time I realized that I may have been too harsh on you." She was the one that winked this time, and he was pretty sure that there really was a pink flush on his cheeks judging by the heat he was feeling on them. And then, Lily Evans took his hand. "Come on, there's a great coffee place that I know a few blocks from here."

This day just got better and better.


End file.
